Young Physicians During their Strenuous Year of Internship, Surprisingly Sustain their Satisfaction, Motivation and Organizational Identity. A prospective Study of 42 Interns in a Large, Tertiary Medical Center

Background. Throughout their internship year, young physicians in Israel are undoubtfully overworked. When associated with their first experiences as healthcare professionals, the anticipated results might be grim. Satisfaction, effort investment, stress, fatigue and other domains of wellbeing in interns are poorly described in the literature. Objective. The current study intended to identify and measure psychological variables of interns during their 12-month internship year. Variables were measured by validated questionnaires and were correlated with demographic data. This study aimed to assess psychological and behavioral variables among medical interns across three quarters of the 12-month internship year, with a particular focus on identifying gender-based differences in well-being and organizational experience. A total of 126 questionnaires were collected from 42 interns, of whom 35.8% were females, in a large tertiary Israeli medical center, spanning the first, second, and third quartiles of their internship year. Measures included work enjoyment, stress, fatigue, life satisfaction, and perception of organizational culture in association with demographic factors such as age and sex. Results. One hundred twenty-six questionnaires collected from 42 interns during Q1 (first quartile), Q2 and Q3 of internship year were included in the analysis, of whom 27 (64.2%) were males. During 3-year quartiles, total monthly work hours (mean ± SD) did not change significantly: 59.0 ± 12.6 in Q1, 61.5 ± 11.5 in Q2 and 63.0 ± 11.8 in Q3; (p = 0.071). Variables reflecting work enjoyment, general life satisfaction, stress and fatigue also did not change significantly throughout the study period. Older age was weakly associated with higher time investment (r = 0.190, p = 0.033), higher work effort investment (r = 0.193, p = 0.03) and a high-demand organizational culture (r = 0.19, p = 0.035), although negatively correlated with sleep hours (r = − 0.295, p = 0.001). Regarding Participants’ sex; mean work-related positive feelings were rated at 5.0 ± 1.1/7 for males and 4.5 ± 1.2/7 for females (p = 0.037). Stress was lower for males, rated at 3.2 ± 0.7/7 vs. 3.6 ± 0.6/7 for females (p = 0.001). Physical exhaustion was also lower for males, rated at 2.9 ± 2.3/10 vs. 4.5 ± 2.3/10 for females (p < 0.001). Within the organizational context, a positive correlation was found between the high-demand/work-intensive organizational culture perception and life satisfaction (r = 0.315, p < 0.001). Conclusion. Counterintuitively, satisfaction, motivation, stress, fatigue and other life enjoyment variables are not negatively correlated with the progression of the internship year. Personalized care, regarding age and gender, may fit young physicians, as it is already obvious regarding their patients. Despite sustained levels of satisfaction and motivation throughout the internship year, female interns experienced disproportionately higher stress and fatigue. These findings underscore the need for gender-sensitive interventions during internship. Programs should consider implementing dedicated support systems for female interns, such as structured mentorship, confidential counseling access, and gender-sensitive scheduling practices to mitigate burnout.